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14-02-09 Karzai admits tensions with US

Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president,has admitted that there is tension between his government and the new US administration.The acknowledgement came in an interview to Al Jazeera's David Frost as the US special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan,Richard Holbrooke,met high-level officials of the Afghan government.Karzai also admitted that he has not heard from the US president since Barack Obama moved into the White House last month."There is tension between us and the US government on issues of civilian casualties,arrests of Afghans,nightly raids on homes and the casualties they cause," Karzai said."We are negotiating... I had to campaign for an end to civilian casualties because we are a sovereign country and the Afghan people expect their government to stand for them."Hamish MacDonald,reporting for Al Jazeera from Kabul,noted that Holbrooke has insisted on holding talks with senior Afghan security officials before meeting Karzai